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You may have noted that AI companions are an intriguing yet complex phenomenon in this modern age. This event has caused various psychological effects on the human mind, both beneficial and detrimental. With the rapid advancement of AI systems, including conversational interfaces, virtual personal assistants, and robotic companions, interactions with these technologies are increasingly influencing emotional well-being and social behavior. You must have watched the film “Her,” which highlights similar themes of companionship with an operating system.

Her follows Theodore, a lonely writer who develops a deep emotional connection with an AI assistant named Samantha. Unlike traditional AI, Samantha isn’t just a programmed voice—she learns, evolves, and expresses emotions, making Theodore feel truly seen and understood. Their relationship blurs the line between human and machine companionship, raising questions about whether AI can meet emotional needs the way real human relationships do. As Samantha grows beyond Theodore, the film explores what it means to love something that isn’t physically present and whether AI relationships can ever replace real human connection.

This article will explore the psychological effects of AI companions, their potential benefits, and the limitations of this technology.

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Analysis of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is commonly used for molecular profiling in patients with advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The authors of this Review summarize the available evidence on the potential utility of incorporating ctDNA in the management of those with early stage and locally advanced NSCLC and propose interventional studies to provide the necessary additional evidence.

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Radiologically, Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) is characterized by cerebellar tonsil herniation of at least 5 mm through the foramen magnum. In symptomatic cases, posterior fossa decompression (PFD) surgery is often performed and improves symptoms in approximately 75% of patients. However, the surgery involves risks, and identifying which candidates will benefit from surgery is important. It has previously been shown that the amount of tonsillar descent does not correlate with symptom severity or surgical outcomes. The authors hypothesized that using advanced neuroimaging methods to directly measure CSF flow and brain motion will give insights regarding which patients have the greatest likelihood of cerebral dynamic improvements from surgery.

Here, the authors evaluated 108 CM-I patients (age 19–70 years), 61 of whom underwent PFD surgery. The authors used phase-contrast MRI to measure CSF flow/stroke volume and cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) imaging to measure brain motion, with a goal to predict postsurgical cerebral dynamic improvements from presurgical images.

The authors found that CSF stroke volume increased after PFD surgery by 28.9% (p = 0.014), brainstem motion decreased after surgery by 17.3% (p = 0.002), and cerebellum motion decreased 45.2% (p < 0.001). Notably, the amount of CSF flow increase after surgery had no relationship to tonsillar descent (R = 0.059, p = 0.767) but did relate to the amount of presurgical CSF flow (R = −0.518, p = 0.005). Likewise, improvements to brain motion were better predicted by the amount of presurgical motion (brainstem, R = −0.638, p < 0.001; cerebellum, R = −0.878, p < 0.001) than by tonsillar descent (brainstem, R = −0.312, p = 0.093; cerebellum, R = −0.620, p < 0.001).

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A new study suggests a nasal spray developed to target neuroinflammation could one day be an effective treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI). By studying the effects of the nasal anti-CD3 in a mouse model of TBI, researchers found the spray could reduce damage to the central nervous system and behavioral deficits, suggesting a potential therapeutic approach for TBI and other acute forms of brain injury. The results are published in Nature Neuroscience.

The study examines the monoclonal antibody Foralumab, made by Tiziana, which has been tested in clinical trials for patients with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions.

Multiple experiments were done in mouse models with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury to explore the communication between regulatory cells induced by the nasal treatment and the microglial immune cells in the brain. Over time, researchers were able to identify how they modulate immune response.

In addition to assessing the effects of the treatment, the research team was able to learn about immune response over time and compare the immune responses and effects of TBI in the mice.

The next step in the research is to translate the findings from preclinical models to human patients.

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I like 🇨🇳 Engine AI 🤖

Two weeks ago, the robot from EngineAI wowed the crowd with an incredible front flip. Now, it’s evolved once more! The PM01 dashes forward with a superfluid gait, looking every bit as imposing as the Terminator from sci — fi flicks. Its stride, movement pattern, leaps, and raw power are all straight out of a high — tech fantasy. This is the true face of technology! Mechanical aesthetics reach their peak in the PM01. Future — tech isn’t just a dream anymore; it’s unfolding right here, in the real world.@HumanoidRobot @ArtificialIntelligence @AI @EmbodiedIntelligence @EngineAI

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Renowned astrophysicist and educator Alex Filippenko joins Brian Greene to discuss an increasingly disturbing cosmological mismatch known as the Hubble Tension, a gap that may require a radical rewriting of the history of the universe.

This program is part of the Big Ideas series, supported by the John Templeton Foundation.

Participant: Alex Filippenko.
Moderator: Brian Greene.

0:00:00 — Introduction.
0:00:50 — Welcome to Alex Filippenko.
0:03:58 — The Most Important Lesson of Science.
0:06:47 — The Hubble Tension.
0:12:04 — Measuring the Expansion Rate of the Universe.
0:23:31 — How far out can we measure?
0:27:10 — Galaxies with Type 1A Supernovae and Cepheids.
0:32:57 — Cosmic Distance Ladder Summary.
0:37:30 — The Universe’s Expansion Rate Today.
0:47:20 — How can we be certain the measurements are correct?
0:51:00 — CMB and using Theoretical Models to Extrapolate the Expansion Rate.
1:00:57 — Positive outcomes to this tension.
1:02:14 — Filippenko’s thoughts on the position of Wendy Freedman’s recent paper.
1:14:09 — Will the Cepheid data set remain at 42?
1:16:55 — Filippenko’s thoughts on the Hubble tension.
1:22:40 — How Cosmology became a precision science.
1:25:11 — Is Inflation a Falsifiable Theory?
1:29:30 — Filippenko’s view of Inflation and the Multiverse.
1:31:08 — Filippenko’s view of Cyclic Inflation and Steinhardt and Penrose’s theories.
1:35:15 — Falsifiable Aspects of Inflation.
1:41:54 — Discovering the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe.
1:47:54 — Filippenko’s thoughts on Saul Perlmutter’s team’s analysis methods.
1:50:47 — Filippenko’s reaction to the initial discovery.
1:59:04 — Thoughts on Dark Energy and the Great Rip.
2:01:58 — Conclusion.
2:03:16 — Credits.

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Physicists have proposed a radical approach that questions decades of belief about how gravity, spacetime, and quantum mechanics might fit together.

They have introduced a theory that keeps the classical concept of spacetime as envisioned by Einstein, even as it addresses a long-standing rift in modern physics.

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TAMPA, Fla. — Star Catcher Industries, a startup designing spacecraft to beam solar energy to other satellites in low Earth orbit, has secured funding from Florida’s economic development agency to demonstrate the technology at a former Space Shuttle landing site.

Space Florida is providing a $2 million financial package for the one-year-old venture, Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush told SpaceNews March 7, with most of the funds supporting tests this summer from Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility at the Cape — one of the longest runways in the world.

Rush said Star Catcher plans to use the facility to demonstrate its ability to beam hundreds of watts of energy to multiple simulated satellites simultaneously from more than a kilometer away, marking a critical proof point for the Jacksonville, Florida-based startup’s technology.

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